Preseason Week 4 New York Jets Vs. Philadelphia Eagles Quick Hits

Aug 16, 2014; Cincinnati, OH, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

The last preseason game is the one to evaluate the bottom half of your roster and see who will stick and who will get cut. The most important part, as in any preseason game, is to avoid significant injury. Evaluating this game is not about how the team does as a whole but looking at individual player’s performances.

1) Injuries – Troy Davis and IK Enempkali were both inactive. Bellore left with a calf injury but it wasn’t serious. Hill left the game after his only catch. He might be dehydrated and these might have been his last snaps as a Jet. Johnny Patrick left with a head injury after a collision on a tackle. LeQuan Lewis left the game after a hand injury and it did not seem serious. Saalim Hakim fell on the ball and had the wind knocked out of him but returned immediately.

2) All starters rest except for Bohanon and Winters – Bohanon might be on the roster bubble if the Jets decide to go with 4 running backs. He probably still makes the team because Rex Ryan likes fullbacks but they will keep four running backs and they will most likely be Johnson, Ivory, Powell and Richardson, especially after Green’s lost fumbles and Richardson’s nice work in the passing game. Winters and Aboushi are still competing for left guard apparently.

3) Eagles do whatever they want on offense – The Eagles were able to run and pass all they want with little resistance. They amassed over 500 yards including more than 270 on the ground. The Jets mustered no pass rush at all. The score would have been worse than 37-7 if not for an end zone interception by LeQuan Lewis (who otherwise had a terrible night) and a 4th down stop in the red zone. Ellis Lankster kept everything in front of him but was beaten on multiple occasions including getting turned around on a 1st quarter catch by Benn. Lankster was also called for defensive holding. Lewis got beaten deep by Benn for a long touchdown on another miscommunication and another long pass when he lost track of an under thrown ball by Barkley. Lewis was regularly blocked out of running plays as well allowing for some long gains. Josh Bush was beaten on every single ball thrown at him. The front 7, in general, did a bad job stopping the run as the Eagles were breaking 10-20 yard runs all game. Jaiquawn Jarrett was beaten repeatedly in coverage as well.

4) There were some standouts on defense – Up front T.J. Barnes did a good job getting penetration and stopping the run. He flashed good potential on a number of occasions. Trevor Reilly had 2 pass breakups in coverage and another few tackles in the run game. Rontez Miles made a few plays and threw himself around the field. His coverage was so-so but his ability and potential shone through. Johnny Patrick also had a couple of pass breakups but left with a possible concussion. Jeremiah George showed good tackling ability in the open field and his energy is infectious.

Jan 2, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma Sooners wide receiver Jalen Saunders (8) hauls in a 43-yard touchdown catch against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter of the Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

5) Offensive standouts – Daryl Richardson had 27 yards rushing and 32 yards receiving on screens. Clyde Gates caught a 42 yard touchdown pass from Tajh Boyd. Boyd himself looked more confident and poised throwing the long touchdown pass as well as knowing when to leave the pocket or when to stay. Zach Sudfeld had an excellent day pass blocking, he was all over the place saving Simms from a sack directly on a couple of occasions. Sudfeld also had a couple of receptions for 18 yards. Chris Pantale caught a 50 yard pass from Simms that featured some nice tackle-breaking on his behalf. The offensive line had a solid night even though the Eagles brought a lot of pressure. They didn’t get good push in the run game but the pass blocking was not bad at all. Simms wasn’t as sharp as he was in the first 3 preseason games and finished 7 of 17 for 121 yards (50 of which came on 1 throw) but he was poised and used his feet well with 3 carries for 18 yards. Salas had a nice catch for 8 yards on a ball behind him then was wide open in the end zone but it was overthrown. Saunders had 4 catches for 26 yards late and was open a lot in the 1st half but was either overlooked or under thrown.

6) Offensive flops – Stephen Hill had 1 bad drop and 1 nice catch for 13 yards then came out of the game, possibly dehydrated from his illness. It was an amalgam of Hill’s whole career with the Jets. He showed promise, had a big drop then left injured. Gates and Salas both also had drops. Oday Aboushi had two penalties, including 1 that nullified a 20 yard screen.

7) Special Teams – Quigley had a couple of more bad punts, one a shank that went 30 yards and another 26 yard punt where he was trying to pin the Eagles inside the 10 but couldn’t do it and it was caught at the 19. A third went 42 yards but was low and allowed a 10 yard return. Jalen Saunders tried to do too much and went backwards on a return and instead of going down kept trying to make another move which resulted in a loss of 9 yards and caused a teammate to get flagged for an illegal block in the back.  A few nice plays on special teams by Rontez Miles and Trevor Reilly.